There has been a welcome boost for a number of Scottish Borders organisations this summer, with the latest round of funding awards including a number of local groups.
An award of £4,818 has gone to Peebles Orchestra from the National Lottery Awards for All fund.
It means they can put on a choral performance in the town as part of the annual Creative Peebles Festival, which takes place in the last week of August. Community choirs from across the region will gather together to rehearse their performance which will be accompanied by a 40-piece orchestra.
Chris Dubé, Chair of Peebles Orchestra, said: “We are thrilled to receive this award from National Lottery Awards for All. The Peebles Orchestra really want to engage more with the local community and give people in our town an opportunity to make and enjoy music together. With this funding, we can put on our first Come and Sing! event, in collaboration with the local Creative Peebles Arts Festival.
“The award means we can give people the best possible experience, singing Mozart’s well-loved Requiem, with a full orchestra, professional soloists and a top conductor. We are all looking forward to gather together as a community of music lovers to create something wonderful together.”
Other local recipients in the latest round of Lottery funding were Peebles Community Centre, Reston Village Hall, Friends of Kailzie Wildlife.
Reston Village Hall has been awarded £10,000 to refurbish the toilets and kitchen of this large village hall.
Peebles Community Centre receives £9990 to continue to deliver free weekly arts and crafts classes for older people and their carers in Peebles and Innerleithen. It will add programmes in Walkerburn and Eddleston at the request of residents.
And Friends of Kailzie Wildlife’s £1000 grant will be used to celebrate the 20th birthday of a resident osprey at Kailzie Wildlife Park. The project aims to bring local people together to celebrate and to inspire some new wildlife volunteers.
Thanks to the generosity of National Lottery players, 168 groups are sharing in £1,117,301from the fund, which makes grants from £300 to £10,000 to voluntary and community groups across the country.
It has also been announced that Brothers of Charity Services has received £52,500 in the latest Robertson Trust Giving Committee Awards. The funding will go to the organisation’s Working Together programme, which provides training and work experience opportunities for adults with learning disabilities throughout the Scottish Borders.
These latest funding boosts come as Scottish Borders Council announced which groups are to receive funding from the Localities Bid Fund.